1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pick-up apparatus and to an automatic image pick-up method and, more specifically, it relates to an image pick-up apparatus having a function of automatically picking-up an image of an object and to an automatic image pick-up method.
2. Description of the Background Art
When a photograph of an operator of a digital camera himself/herself as an object is to be taken in an automatic image pick-up mode with a self-timer, an image pick-up operation takes place automatically after a prescribed time period from pressing of a shutter button. Specifically, the automatic image pick-up operation takes place a prescribed time period after pressing the shutter button, no matter whether the operator has reached a desired position or whether the operator is standing still at the position for photographing or not. Consequently, timely image pick-up is not always possible, and desired images are not always obtained.
In view of the foregoing, a method has been used in which a digital camera is remote-controlled to enable timely image pick-up. In that case, however, a remote controller, a light receiving unit for the remote controller and associated circuitry must be provided, so that the apparatus comes to have a complicated structure. Therefore, it is desirable to realize an image pick-up apparatus having a simple structure and capable of performing an image pick-up operation at a good timing.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-092701 discloses an imaging apparatus in which a release button is pressed automatically by recognizing and discriminating a face image so as not to lose a good timing for image pick-up, to prevent pick-up of a blurred image and to store sharp images only. According to the disclosure, a face feature storage section for storing feature data of a plurality of faces and a recognition/discrimination section for recognizing a face on the basis of image data of an object and the data stored in the face feature storage to discriminate each part of the face are provided.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 8-279954 discloses an image pickup device that enables accurate set up of focus and exposure in a simple manner to obtain desired images without fail. According to the disclosure, in a self-timer image pickup mode, movement of an object is detected based on a motion vector or on a change in luminance, and the focus and exposure are set after it is determined that the movement has stopped.
In the technique of Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-092701, means for detecting movement of an object is not provided, and therefore, image pick-up operation might possibly be performed even when the object is not still. In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 8-279954, means for detecting the face of an object is not provided, and therefore, image pick-up operation might possibly be performed even when an object other than the intended human object stops its motion. Therefore in the conventional image pick-up apparatuses, it has been impossible to perform the image pick-up operation at a right timing when an object person is to be photographed automatically.